There are numerous plastic and glass surfaces that require frequent cleaning for satisfactory performance and clarity, including, but not limited to, camera lenses, microscope lenses, telescope lenses, and surfaces in other products. It is often important for these surfaces to remain relatively scratch free and damage free.
Conventional cleaning apparatuses such as brushes, cloths, and blowers for cleaning such surfaces can become contaminated with dust, fingerprints, and/or other debris, thereby resulting in inefficient cleaning and/or damage to the surfaces. The use of cleaning solutions with special cloths adds cost and complexity to surface cleaning.
Carbon black, sometimes referred to as “soot,” has been used for cleaning optical surfaces. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,993,560 to Wasak, et al. discloses devices and compositions for cleaning optical surfaces with carbon black. Carbon black and its use, however, can be disadvantageous for one or more reasons. Carbon black may leave a fine black carbon residue on an optical surface, the cleaning equipment, and/or the user's hands or clothes. As a result, carbon black may require special handling or further cleaning steps.
Products and method are desired that clean plastic and glass surfaces without one or more of the disadvantages associated with carbon black.